1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to compositions and methods for targeted delivery and release of drug compounds at sites of inflammation and/or disease within the body of an individual.
2. Related Art
Site-specific delivery of drug compounds has generally been achieved either by local administration of the compound directly into a target site or by conjugation of the drug compound to specific targeting molecules or carriers. These targeting molecules or carriers generally include specific ligands, such as peptides, proteins, sugars, etc., which may bind to specific receptors or other molecules present at target sites, or antibodies having specific affinity for receptors or other cell surface markers present at target sites. Targeting molecules or carriers may be associated with drug-containing liposomes or other vesicles, micelles, etc., to achieve targeted delivery of the drug. Other specialized approaches for targeted delivery of drugs have been proposed as well. However, in many cases these antibody, ligand, or vesicle-based targeting approaches may not effectively distinguish between diseased and normal tissue and may have difficulty crossing the blood-brain barrier.
There continues to be a need in the art for the development of new and improved techniques and compositions for the targeted delivery of drugs to sites of disease and/or inflammation within the body of an individual to treat or alleviate the condition.